Hello dear reader. Pull up a chair, park bench or beanbag and make yourself comfortable. What follows is my review of Lion and its ever so slightly sombre overtones. Now, I should say that prior to its release Lion had really done much to win me over. I knew of its existence and if someone had pointed a gun at my head I would have been able to tell you which actors were in it. At least when it came to the main leads but in all honesty its subject matter didn’t really interest me at all. I can’t give you any specific reasons why either. I like India, I like Australians (to a point) and I’m a big fan of films that insert ‘based on a true story’ in their opening credits. All I do know that when it came to Lion both of my feet were firmly planted under the table on the apathy train and were not for moving. I am happy to report that I did go to see it and I can say without fear of contradiction or reprisals that I did actually enjoy it, much to my surprise.
So what is Lion about? Well, it’s a tale of a young Indian boy who, through a series of poor choices and bad luck, finds himself lost on the streets of Calcutta and a long way from home. He is then adopted by an Australian family and its then as an adult we watch him try and discover who he is, where he’s from, how he can find his Indian family and how he can reclaim his Indian heritage.
At the start of the film we are introduced to a small boy called Saroo. At no more than five or six years old he’s already helping his older brother Guddu to try and bring some money into help his single mother. Saroo manages to convince Guddu to let him come out with him one evening. Unfortunately the brothers have to separate and although Guddu tells Saroo to stay where he wakes up later, at the train station where he left Guddu, alone and with no sign of his brother. Afraid and feeling isolated Saroo goes searching for his brother but after a vain exploration of the surrounding area he ends up on an empty train, exhausted and needing to rest. When he wakes again he finds himself locked inside the train, which is now moving and heading for destinations unknown. And that’s how simply Saroo’s life changes. In the space of twenty four hours he’s travelled over a thousand miles and not only is he unsure of where he is, Saroo, being very young and without the security blanket of his mother & brother, isn’t sure of the name of the village that he lives in either.
Lion is split into two parts. The first third of the film centres on the young Saroo, played, despite his young age, with maturity and precision by Sunny Pawar. It’s not an easy third to watch at times, especially knowing that is based on what actually happened to him as a young boy and what he had to do to survive. Saroo, despite the fact that he’s still in the same country he was born in, in effectively a stranger in a strange land. Not speaking the same language and not having his support network or anyone looking out for him, are just some of the things that just barely scratch the surface of what he has to deal with. The only thing that is a constant and that he can rely on, knowing that it will never change, is that life is hard and will not do him any favours. After some close calls and run ins with some less than commendable people Saroo finds himself in an orphanage and being looked after some staff that don’t really have his and the other children’s best interests at heart. However, it’s whilst at this orphanage that he is picked for adoption by an Australian couple, Sue and John Brierley, played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham respectively. The last two thirds of the film deal with Saroo, now played by Dev Patel, coming to terms with his new life in a new country and his struggle to reconnect with his past. Knowing he has a brother and mother in India and that somewhere within the confines of its borders is the village he grew up in is what basically drives Lion forward. The feeling of wanting to belong and feeling accepted by a culture and a way of life that seems to be ever so slowly slipping away from him, one day at a time.
As I said at the start, Lion wasn’t really a film that I wanted to see and I suspect it will be the same for others too. Its subject matter by definition means that you know there are going to be things you watch that will upset you and Lion isn’t a story that’s been given the Hollywood ‘happy ending’ treatment. There are spoilers I could get into here but I won’t as knowing what you’re about to watch would lessen the emotional impact and water down the journey that Saroo goes on.
Overall Lion is a film that you will remember for a long time. Dev Patel once again proves that he deserves to be a leading man and can carry the emotional weight of this story, squarely on his shoulders and it can be only a matter of time before he is considered a member of the A-List crowd, when it comes to actors. I am reliably informed that the Australian accent Dev uses through the film is pretty near close to perfect and is at times better than Nicole Kidman’s. Lion at its core is a story about loss and understanding how you fit in with the world. A story about being driven almost to the point of self-destruction in an attempt to work out who you are and why you are and the sacrifices you have to make in order to find inner peace. Lion isn’t all sunshine and rainbows but at the same time it isn’t a film about pity and how hard life can be at times. Ultimately Lion is a story about a journey, both physically and mentally and it’s about wanting to belong. It’s not a perfect film, it does have its flaws but I think that’s the point. Art imitating life shouldn’t be faultless and regardless of the journey you go on, it’s where you call home that counts…
Twiiter Review:
Life is may well be a journey but you need to know where home is.
#LostAndFound
Life is may well be a journey but you need to know where home is.
#LostAndFound
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